Seattle Elections Code Administrative Rules

The City of Seattle Video Votersí Guide Administrative Rules

1. GENERAL

1.1 Joint Production: If the Executive Director of the Seattle
Ethics and Elections Commission (Executive Director) and King County
agree, the County and the City will jointly produce a Video Voters'
Guide (Guide) for the Primary and General Elections. The parties will
equitably share the cost of producing and distributing the Guide.

1.2 Editions: Two editions of the Guide will be produced; one for
Seattle, and one for King County. These rules govern the production of
the Seattle Guide.

1.3 Availability of Copies: The Executive Director will make a
copy of the Guide available to the Seattle Channel for broadcast during
the two weeks before the Primary Election and the two weeks before the
General Election. The Executive Director will provide copies of the
Guide to the City's central library for members of the public to view
on library equipment or to borrow.

1.4 Candidate Invitations: The Executive Director will invite every
person who files for Mayor, City Council, City Attorney, Municipal
Court Judge, or Seattle School Board to participate in the Primary
Election Guide. The Executive Director will invite every person
whose name appears on the General Election Ballot for those offices to
participate in the General Election Guide. The County will be
responsible for inviting candidates for King County offices, and such
other offices as the County deems appropriate.

1.5 Ballot Issue Committee Invitations: The Executive Director
will invite each City ballot issue committee appointed to draft an
argument in the voters' pamphlet to participate in the Guide. Each
committee must select one representative to present its views
in the Guide. The County will be responsible for inviting County
ballot issue committee representatives.

2. FILMING THE STATEMENTS

2.1 Filming -- Times: Statements for the Primary Election
Guide will be filmed during the first two weeks immediately
following the close of the period for filing Declarations of Candidacy
for City and County office. A schedule of available time slots
will be available from the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission
office, Suite 4010, Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 Fifth Avenue
one month before filming begins. Statements for the General Election
Guide will be filmed from seven to nine weeks before the General
Election and thereafter, at the discretion of the Executive Director
and the County. Any candidate or ballot issue committee
representative who cannot be filmed during this time may be excluded
from the Guide.

2.2 Fee: Each candidate and ballot issue representative will be
asked to pay $100.00 per appearance for each Guide in which he or she
will appear to help defray the cost of filming and production.
Candidates who reuse their Primary Election Guide statement in the
General Election Guide will be asked to pay $50.00 for their appearance
in the General Election Guide to defray the cost of production.

2.3 Fee Waiver: Fees will be waived for any candidate or ballot
issue committee representative who can show that his or her committee
fund does not contain $100.00 that is not already obligated, either at
the time of receiving the invitation to participate or at the time of
filming the statement.

2.4 Time Allotment: Each candidate or ballot issue committee
representative shall be allotted one-half hour in which no more than
15 minutes shall be used to record a version or versions of a two-minute
statement, which will not be edited. No more than ten minutes of the
half-hour shall be used for the candidate or ballot issue committee
representative to select the unedited two-minute statement to be
broadcast.

2.5 Closed-Captioning: Each candidate or ballot issue committee
representative must bring to the recording session one typed paper
copy of the two-minute statement for retention by the filming crew. The
statement will be used to transcribe the recording for closed-captioning.

2.6 Filming Conditions: All candidates for the same position
shall be filmed in the same production studio, in front of the
identical background, with the word "candidate," name, position sought,
and party in partisan races, on the screen below the candidate's image
at all times. All ballot issue committee representatives for or
against the same issue shall be recorded in the same production
studio in front of the identical background, with the ballot name
heading as it will appear on the ballot and the word "Pro" or "Con"
as appropriate on the screen below the representative's image at all
times. The shoulders and head of the candidate or ballot issue
committee representative shall appear on the recording. Candidates
or ballot issue committee representatives may not wear hats,
buttons, or any other article of clothing bearing an insignia, or
uniforms, including but not limited to judicial robes. They may not use
props or include other persons in the recording.

2.7 Teleprompter Use. Candidates and ballot issue representatives
will have the opportunity to use the Seattle Channel's Teleprompter during
their scheduled appointment. Only employees of the Seattle Channel
will be permitted to operate the Teleprompter. An electronic file of
the candidate or committee's statement must be delivered to the
Seattle Channel at least two business days prior to the taping
appointment. If the electronic file is not supplied in a timely manner,
the candidate or ballot issue representative may be denied the
opportunity to use the Teleprompter.

2.8 Limitations on Statements: The two-minute statements must not
include obscene, profane, libelous, or defamatory matter, or language
that may impair broadcast of the statements.

2.9 Assistance: Each candidate or ballot issue committee
representative may bring an assistant to the recording session,
but that assistant shall not be seen or heard on the recording.

2.10 Order of Presentation: Each position will be introduced
on the relevant Guide with an explanation of the duties of the office.
Candidate statements shall be presented in the Guide in the order in
which the candidate names will appear on the ballot. Each ballot issue
will be introduced on the Guide in the order in which it will appear on
the ballot. The representative in favor of the ballot issue will speak
first followed directly by the representative opposing the ballot issue.

These Rules were adopted by the Seattle Ethics and Elections
Commission on August 15, 2011, and will be effective on the date
they are filed with the City Clerk. The Commission members voting
to take this action were:

Bob Mahon, Chair

Bill Sherman, Vice Chair

Tarik Burney

Lynne Iglitzin

David Mendoza

Amit Ranade

STATE OF WASHINGTON

CITY OF SEATTLE

I, WAYNE BARNETT, Executive Director of the Seattle Ethics and
Elections Commission, State of Washington, do hereby certify that
this is a true and correct copy of the Video Voters' Guide
Administrative Rules, implementing SMC 2.14, as adopted on August 15,
2011.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day
of August, 2011.